


A Summary/Review of Survival of the Sickest

by unrelatedchickenfire



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24388522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrelatedchickenfire/pseuds/unrelatedchickenfire
Summary: A book summary/review I wrote for English, early 2019. It's a really good book, and I basically super-condensed most of it so that you won't have to read the book with its verbose explanations of all the genetic diseases and their supposed evolutionary origins.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	A Summary/Review of Survival of the Sickest

Long-ass summary  
Exploring genetic diseases or traits ranging from hemochromatosis, diabetes, levels of melanin, favism, jumping genes, genetic suppression, and cancer cells, evolutionary biologist and neurogeneticist Sharon Moalem addresses how certain genes, sometimes malevolent in the long term, may have evolved to remain in us humans, who, supposedly, should by now be tailored to perfection with natural selection. The presence of genetic disorders is proof that they were once advantageous to our ancestors’ survival. Hemochromatosis, for which about 10 percent of the Caucasian population is a carrier, is a potentially deadly disease resulting from an overloading of iron in the body. The prevalence of the disease is attributed to the fact that during the Black Plague women and children with little iron and hemochromatosis that helped them store iron continuously were less vulnerable to bacterial infections, as the bacteria _Yersinia pestis_ flourish with iron like all organisms. Diabetes, which about one in three Americans have, was vital to the survival of ancestors that lived in cold regions as high levels of sugar in the blood could work as antifreeze and be used by brown fat cells to be directly converted to heat. The levels of melanin in the different “races” were determined by the intensity of sunlight around the world and the required folate protection and amount of vitamin D production. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, present in about 400 million people, was recognized through hemolysis through eating fava beans (favism) and made the G6PD-deficient red blood cells less susceptible or preferable to malarial parasites. Evolving bacterial infections and parasites can be pressured to become benign when the hosts are well sanitized and kept away from spreading the germs, which forces the parasites to keep the infected person mobile. Jumping genes, also known as transposons, account for the noncoding, 97 percent of human DNA besides the 3 percent that code for proteins, and are one of the elements that incite evolution in organisms. Called “jumping genes” because these genes in somatic cells tend to be copied and pasted to other genomes when there is environmental stress on the organism, they can cause mutations that could even be hereditary when the genes are copied to germ cells, meaning the old idea of inherited acquired traits isn’t completely wrong. Genes can be turned on and off according to the maternal care or nutritional consumption through DNA methylation, which is the adding of methyl groups to DNA to repress gene transcription without changing the sequences. For example, when a newly pregnant woman consumes junk food low in nutrients, the embryo will receive a signal that it will be born into a harsh environment with scarce food, causing several genes to be turned on and off so the baby is born small, needing less food to survive.  
These instances are all used to state the author’s main point: we evolved like all other organisms, prioritizing survival and reproduction, but many imperfect phenotypes, despite future malevolence, evolved as they once spurred better chances of survival.

Importance of the book to me  
I first read the book long after my brother Taylor had ironically read it in Korean at Harbin Wanbang School and, in an absolutely intrigued manner, explained on several random occasions the few theories and facts about evolution he had learned from _Survival of the Sickest._ One thing he had ranted about was the aquatic ape in the aquatic or semiaquatic past. Based on the theory, bipedalism was developed through wading in deeper water and swimming, with the water supporting the upper body weight. We lost fur and our fat became attached to our skin like all other aquatic mammals for efficient swimming. Our prominent noses with the downward nostrils helped us dive. He also explained the certain advantages birthing underwater has. I, being ever surprised by how smart and inquisitive he could sometimes be (opposed to his usual, absentminded state of dreaming about trivialities such as video games) despite his overall naivety, took inspiration with the topics on anthropology he had explained rather intelligently and decided I should read the book, as all books implore scrutiny if not a skim. The theories he had mentioned were all in the book, but I, ultimately thanks to the spasmodic ramblings that I got to hear due to his carefree attitude towards the seemingly helpless little brother, learned way more things about genetics and humanity in general, though the book isn’t general by any means and has an excess of scientific and sleep-inducing names or terms.

Educational value  
Besides learning of the perpetual complexities that arise from trying to study or advance biology through much researching, the extensive and painstaking accumulation of research and dedication from Sharon Moalem is infinitely admirable. Even if the book occasionally becomes incessant with seemingly an inexhaustible supply of information or redundant explanations, it reads like a friendly Orwellian novel that simply wants to elaborate on multiple tales about diseases and how they evolved, or obscure discoveries about the functioning of genes we still struggle to understand. We can learn about, if nothing else (though it is impossible to close the book without having learned too much), how humble, open-minded, and inadequate we should feel looking into the vast unknown that is the concept of evolution as it inexorably progresses for every organism.

Bibliographic Information  
Moalem, Sharon, and Jonathan Prince. _Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease._ William Morrow, February 6, 2007. Print.


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